The Cricket Thread 2013

[Dave Cooper please]

This is ridiculous both Bresnan and Swann have been injured this morning by fast deleveries, hopefully not serious but should we be risking this.

Well yes, the players definitely need a game to get the sharpness up before The Ashes. It would be nice if Essex could just throw down a load of pies but they'll get a lot more of the short stuff from the Aussies.

I get that for the batsmen, but as well as Swann and Bresnan played they're principally there to bowl so them getting hammered by fast bowling isn't ideal. Swann's potential injury being a case in point.

Bresnan and Swann can often make vital runs in the lower order, especially after one of our still too frequent middle-order collapses, so the time they had in the middle will be useful. Yes the injury is annoying but he could just have easily done something like that in the nets, or he might have took a knock in fielding practice, shit happens, but cricketers need proper match time.

[PaulWinch again]

I would actually look at the possibility of Bopara being number 6 for England again. Now that he has his form and confidence back he looks a good player, and with his bowling I think he adds a nice balance to the team.

[PaulWinch again]

Ha jinxed him there, but I do think he's a possible option.

[tomd2103]

Cheers eastie, yeah I'm happy enough for Root to be there.

Seems like a positive move which is something we haven't always done in the past.  Keeping Compton at opener and batting Root at 6 would have been the safe option.

[Chris Jameson]

Yes the injury is annoying but he could just have easily done something like that in the nets, or he might have took a knock in fielding practice, shit happens, but cricketers need proper match time.

I'm fairly certain Bairstow  hasn't played any cricket whatsoever for a month which I don't understand, he's young, fit and surely playing time will do him more good than countless net sessions?

[eastie]

Would you go with Finn or Brennan for the ashes?  I think I would be tempted to choose Finn.
Bopara at 6 ahead of Bairstow is a good option as his bowling can be used if needed , i agree.

[PaulWinch again]

Would you go with Finn or Brennan for the ashes?  I think I would be tempted to choose Finn.
Bopara at 6 ahead of Bairstow is a good option as his bowling can be used if needed , i agree.

I'd be happy enough with that. As Chris mentions the lack of cricket for Bairstow is a big concern, I don't think he's been managed very well with that.

[PaulWinch again]

Swann sounds alright, so that's good.

[eastie]

Cook, root, trott, bell, pieterson, bopara, prior, broad, swann, Anderson, Finn for me.

[PaulWinch again]

I'd be happy with that to be honest. I like Bairstow but I think he needs more cricket.

[PaulWinch again]

Finn bowled a great spell of reverse swing, that'll probably get him in the team.

[Villan For Life]

Would you go with Finn or Brennan for the ashes?  I think I would be tempted to choose Finn.
Bopara at 6 ahead of Bairstow is a good option as his bowling can be used if needed , i agree.

I think Bresnan's runs will mean he gets picked ahead of Finn although it's a tough one to call.

[paul_e]

Would you go with Finn or Brennan for the ashes?  I think I would be tempted to choose Finn.
Bopara at 6 ahead of Bairstow is a good option as his bowling can be used if needed , i agree.

I think Bresnan's runs will mean he gets picked ahead of Finn although it's a tough one to call.

Given the actual problem position is 6 I'd be tempted to push prior up and pick 5 bowlers.  Prior is too good to bat at 7 and between them I think it's fair to expect a bit of a score from swann, bres and broad, all 3 are close to being considered as bowling all rounders.  The issue is do you make a change like that for the ashes?

I'm not convinced by Bopara in test cricket, he doesn't seem to have the temperament.  Bairstow has some quality but he needs to be playing for his county and getting big runs.  Morgan needs to work out how he's going to progress, he seems to have been worked out at the minute so he needs to adapt his game.

For me that leaves the options being the extra bowler or bring Compton back and move root back down, but I think Root needs a chance at the top as he's got the ability to open the batting for us for a long time but we need to see if he is mentally strong enough.

[PaulWinch again]

Problem is Prior plays excellent with the degree of freedom at 7, and 6 then adds a different pressure. I think if Finn bowls like he did yesterday, they'll go for him. If you're going to have a 3 man seam attack, they all have to be strike bowlers if possible.

[paul_e]

Problem is Prior plays excellent with the degree of freedom at 7, and 6 then adds a different pressure. I think if Finn bowls like he did yesterday, they'll go for him. If you're going to have a 3 man seam attack, they all have to be strike bowlers if possible.

Purely for the bowling Finn gets the nod.  Given that the effective choice is between Bopara, Bairstow, Morgan and Bresnan.  You can probably dismiss Morgan after the summer he's had so far.  The others all average 31 in tests, so the batting is very even, and with Bres clearly the better bowler he really is the best option.  However I'm not sure if you can put him at 6, but as you say, moving prior is a big risk given he's been one of our form batsmen for the last 18months.

long term prior moving up one and taking 5 bowlers seems the right way to appraoch it, with Finn and Monty being the 11th man depending on the pitch.